Treatment for sleep apnea by continuous positive airway pressure improves levels of inflammatory markers - a meta-analysis

Table 3 Selected studies measuring serum TNF-α before and after CPAP

Study	Study design	Study population characteristics	OSA definition	Minimum CPAP usage	Outcome
Arias et al. 2008 [73]	Cross-over	25 men	AHI ≥ 10	≥ 3.5 h/day for 3 months	No significant change
Carniero et al. 2009 [63]	Case–control	7 severely obese men	AHI > 30	≥ 5 h/day for 3 months	Decreased, not significant
Guasti et al. 2009 [74]	Case–control	16 total	AHI > 20	Good compliance for 12 weeks	No significant change
Minoguchi et al. 2004 [25]	Case–control	12 total	AHI ≥ 20	> 4.5 h/day for 1 month	Significantly decreased
Ryan et al. 2005 [75]	Case–control	19 total	AHI ≥ 20	4.4 h/day (mean) for 6 weeks	Significantly decreased
Ryan et al. 2006 [76]	Case–control	49 men	AHI > 5	Compliant for 6 weeks	Significantly decreased
Steiropoulos et al. 2009 [77]	Case–control	32 total	AHI > 5	≥ 4 h/day for 6 months	Significantly decreased
Tamaki et al. 2009 [60]	Case–control	33 total: 30 males, 3 females	AHI ≥ 10	3 months (no compliance data)	Significantly decreased
Vgontzas et al. 2008 [78]	Case–control	16 total	AHI > 5	≥ 4 h/day, ≥ 5d/week for 3 months	No significant change

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